The Malgré-nous (Despite Ourselves) are the roughly 130,000 young Alsatians from Lorraine, many of them recruited by force, who served under the Nazis during World War II.

The Oradour-sur-Glane massacre took place over a half a century ago, but France still remembers.

Sixty years after the disappearance of literary great Saint-Exupéry, a commemoration is held on the Mediterranean Sea at the spot where his airplane fell.

Patricia discusses the various ways zeppelins were used in the twentieth century, as well as what led to their downfall.

Humanity has always dreamed of flying through the air. That dream was made possible with the arrival of the zeppelin at the end of the nineteenth century.

In centuries past, when a person's honor was offended, he would challenge the culprit to a duel. The last duel in France took place as recently as 1967, between two respected politicians!

Professor Joseph Melone stresses the importance of sources in historical research. He also makes the disputed claim that Shakespeare never existed. Whether you believe that or not, his message is clear: check your sources!

Professor Joseph Malone share his thoughts on his research on western colonization in Africa. What he discovered was not at all what he expected.

Nice's Jetée-Promenade is the site of a former casino by that name. Built on pilings over the sea, the original building was once a thriving casino attracting many tourists, especially British tourists who flocked to the Riviera.

In this video on Nice, Patricia explains the history of the city, its Italian heritage, and its typically French atmosphere.

The first of April is the day of hoaxes, pranks, and jokes. In France, the tradition is to hang paper fish on people's backs and shout, "Poisson d'avril!" (April Fish!).

Patricia explains the importance of dictation exercises for learning French. Now an essential teaching tool in the classroom, dictation was originally a pastime for French nobility. The author Prosper Mérimée created a dictation exercise for Empress Eugénie that stumped even the brightest intellectuals. Think you can beat them? Try it yourself here.

Patricia continues her series on the feast of Candlemas, which in France is centered around the crêpe. Due to its round shape and golden color, the crêpe was a symbol of the sun in pagan times.

It took two hundred years to standardize French spelling before it could be taught in schools using a method called la dictée (dictation), in which a student writes out the words he or she hears. As a matter of fact, this is the exact same principle behind Yabla's Scribe game!

Patricia delves into the festival of la Chandeleur, or Candlemas, which takes place on the second of February. In France, la Chandeleur is traditionally celebrated by eating crêpes.